NSW saleyard sheep turnovers in 2021-22.

WAGGA WAGGA has retained its position as hosting Australia’s largest livestock saleyard, selling more than 2.1 million sheep and cattle in 2021-22.

In the 2022 financial year, the Wagga centre sold 2,005,901 sheep, an increase of 10.3 percent, and 107,274 cattle, a 5.4pc drop.

Meat and Livestock Australia said there was a marginal reduction in saleyard throughput nationally of 1pc year-on-year, with yardings of 3.7m cattle and 13m sheep.

The 2022 results of MLA’s annual saleyards survey are now available.

Herd and flock retention

MLA said the 2022 saleyard survey results show the national herd and flock rebuild has matured and moved towards retention. Producers continue to take advantage of the higher prices, particularly for cattle, MLA said.

In 2022, there were close to 16.8 million saleyard transactions made across both livestock species, down 1pc from the 17 million transactions recorded in the previous financial year.

MLA said sheep transactions were down 3% year-on-year, at 13 million head. The top five selling centres across all states were Wagga Wagga, Ballarat, Hamilton, Forbes and Bendigo.

Increases in cattle supply were recorded in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland, with the most notable shifts in supply being in Charters Towers (up 202pc) and Tamworth, which rose to the top of the NSW ranking by recording a supply increase of 23pc year-on-year.

Click here to view the full results of the 2022 survey.

Source – MLA.